The Best Mormon Talk This Weekend was…

The first talk given today in church was one of the best I have heard in a long time. It was better than anything I heard last night and, most likely, better than anything I will hear next week.

The sister spoke about her experiences, her life, and her faith. She touched on the challenges facing her family (they had two you nephews and a young niece live with them for the last year). She offered her own interpretation of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs based on her own personal faith and experiences.

The best parts of Mormonism come to us on regular Sundays as we listen to our neighbors and friends and they do not need to be transmitted by satellite feed.

The best talks in Mormonism come from those that sit behind you almost weekly at church.

My Mormonism is rooted in a church building just east of the Las Vegas Strip on Tropicana Ave. It is an old building. It is an area with many homeless people. It is just down the block from the now-defunct Liberace Museum and the Pinball Hall of Fame.

My Mormonism is rooted in a ward (LDS congregation) which is diverse and different. We struggle together. We strive together. We partake of the bread and water together.

While I write about Mormonism online, it cannot be lived here. This is the case with any religion. There needs to be community and that community is local and in real life.

While I ponder a pragmatist theology of Mormonism…I should go back to class.